Along with recent upsizing of displays in the field of FPDs (flat panel displays), there has been a need for an apparatus that is capable of conveying and processing, for example, a G8 (8th generation) large-size glass substrate with the dimensions 2200 mm×2500 mm in the process step of processing a display.
A conventional apparatus, for example, for conveying a large-size glass substrate with use of an electrostatic holding technology, e.g. a conventional in-line deposition apparatus for deposition on a surface of a glass substrate, has had a length of several meters to several tens of meters.
As described, for example, in PTL1 and PTL2, such a deposition apparatus is configured to emit a boiled deposition material toward a surface of a large-size glass substrate from a deposition source located below the glass substrate and thereby deposit a desired circuit pattern and the like on the glass substrate surface. For this purpose, an electrostatic holding device holding the glass substrate is rotated as a whole so that the glass substrate faces downward, and the glass substrate is conveyed to a position directly above the deposition source while continuing to face downward. Then, after the deposition process, the glass substrate is released from the holding device and passed on to the next step.